appears a clear reddish orange in color, with frothy white head. aroma and taste are heavy on the floral hops, but I don't get any malt to balance it out. a bitter finish. carbonation is medium, body is on the thinner side.

overall - I personally like at least some malt flavor to balance an IPA, and none is found here.

This beer pours a clear medium copper hue, with two fingers of thick, foamy, rocky pale tan head, which settles in the same manner as our northern sun (read: lazily), eventually rendering some perfectly consistent hanging bike chain lace around my American pint glass. It smells enchantingly of bitter citrus rind and pine branches, atop a bready caramel base. The taste is bitter pine hops upfront, some astringent citrus following close on its heels, over a still out-matched, but somewhat persistent cracker/bready malt. The carbonation is fairly sedate, the body medium weight, a bit prickly, but that's a-ok when the hops are responsible - any smoothness disruption becoming an afterthought. It finishes still on the hoppy side, nothing overbearing, just a nice pine/citrus blend of stellar, steady bitterness, oblivious to all things malt, even those with good intent.

Purported 'redness' aside, this is just one well-wrought American (West Coast-adjacent) IPA. Despite the lameness of the malt in this here offering, we somehow wind up with nothing resembling a hop-bomb. Hoppy as shit? Sure. Unbalanced? Nope. I'll leave it to better men (or beer geeks) to figure that one out. In the meantime, I'm putting down the rest of this bomber with my favorite self-made nosh.

22 fl oz bomber (from La Bodega) into a goblet. Bottled first week of June 2011. Pours a hazy burnt orange with some amber hues. Head is about two fingers that gradually resides to about one. Hard to see the carbonation due to the haze. Lacing is quite nice--good stickage and frothiness.

Wow, the nose is hop resin delight. Pine and citrus (grapefruit) and tropical fruit duke it out for the lead. So much so that it is hard to pick out any of the malt aromas. But, if you are an American IPA hophead, this smell is right on target for you--very floral and bitter.

The taste features hop bitterness front and center. Not much balance from the malt, although you do get some bready notes at the end. I am hit up front with a bitter bang that only reluctantly gives way towards the finish. There was quite a bit of citrus in the nose, and that is the flavor that plays out in this beer--in the form of grapefruit with a little added spice kick. I had to think about it a little bit, however. In other words, the grapefruit does not scream out grapefruit. Could be some pineapple too. Overall a nice IPA, but left me grasping for something a little more.

Mouthfeel is clean and crisp, perhaps a little on the light side for my preferences. Not a thick IPA by any means.

Overall, not bad. I enjoyed this hop-centric IPA from Midnight Sun. I see this as a good entry point for those looking to expand their IPA and hop horizons--a gateway into the land of no return!

Pour - dark amber in color with some reddish highlights and a nice inch of foamy, off-white head on top. This is rather dark for an IPA and personally I like that as it means there is likely to be a solid malt backbone.

Aroma - sweet, tangy, citrusy with some nice pineapple notes as well as orange and mango. Lots of hoppy smells emanating from this glass. I'm excited to dive in as it's the perfect evening for an IPA from Alaska!

Taste - that first taste hits the lips, the tongue and the back of the throat with a blast of bitter citrus and resiny pine. This is followed by some of that sweet pineapple I caught in the aroma and a malty caramel finish. There are some honey notes as this one warms a bit and those hop flavors start to really stick and dry out the tongue. Delicious.

Overall - definitely more than a just one-sided IPA and the perfect candidate for Midnight Sun's first cans sent down the line. I can imagine this would be a big hit with all the outdoors folks up in Anchorage as it would fill a lot of coolers quite nicely. Great stuff and am glad we were able to taste it while it was fresh!

Would I buy more of it? - if it meant a trip to Alaska I'd certainly love to get more but without that expensive airline ticket I think I'll have to wait until they expand their distribution considerably.

Pours a deep amber with a very large and fluffy off white head. The head recedes quickly leaving lots of lacing clinging to the glass.

The smell is sweet carmel malt, earthy hops, orange zest, and some tropical fruit. The smell is clean and well balanced, nothing seems to dominate.

The tase is bitter pine, orange zest, a slightly sweet carmel malt backbone, and some spicy & slightly tropical flavors that linger in the background. The overwhelming flavor is pine.

The mouthfeel has medium body with with a light carbonation. Need some more carbonation to make the flavors dance on the palate.

Overall, this is a solid IPA. It has good hop flavors, a nice malt base, and some orange zest flavor. The pine is a little strong for my taste, but it does not completely overpower everything else. I would drink this again if offered one.

Thanks a ton for the great gifts frank, we had a fun night with all of these for sure!

The rich velvet like amber pour was a touch cloud and capped by a wonderful light light of white that reached a height of around of two inches before dropping down with copious amounts of side glass lacing. Rich and biting citrus hops across the nose, bitter with a sweet orange peel like zest to it. Super smooth flavor here with a nice medium bodied feel and more then ample carbonation. The biting hop note mellowed mid palate as some nice balancing came into play with light buttery like malts and a light hint of grain before a smackdown of hops came across my tongue and shattered all hop of anything but a luscious and dry finish.

From a bottle, pours clear rust orange with a creamy white head. Nose is very grapefruit-rind forward, pretty juicy, singular, almost tending toward chemical depending on how you perceive it. Luckily, I really enjoy that sort of hop work in an IPA. Flavor is fairly bitter with some caramel malt, finishing long, awkwardly bitter, without a lot of focus. More grapefruit rind lingers about, but not nearly as well expressed as in the nose. Decent to sip on but nothing great.

I honestly can't remember who cracked this out at DLD, but thanks to whomever you are!

Somehow a second Alaskan beer was broken out in our vicinity at DLD. I'm not gonna argue. This one pours a clear sunset copper-russet topped by a finger or so of dirty white foam. The nose comprises grapefruit, pine, light caramel, light clove, and orange zest. The taste brings in more of the same, though the caramel pops a bit more, bringing in some nice sweetness to balance the fruity bitterness (or bitter fruitiness). The body is a light-leaning medium, with a light moderate carbonation and a fairly dry finish. Overall, a very nice IPA. 'Nuff said, really.

Pours a clear, amber/copper color. 3/4 inch head of an off-white color. Great retention and great lacing. Smells of sweet malt, rye, slight yeast, slight hop, and hint of citrus. Fits the style of an American IPA. Mouth feel is sharp and crisp, with an average carbonation level. Tastes of sweet malt, hops, slight citrus, slight yeast, hint of rye, and hint of earthy malt. Overall, good appearance, aroma, body, and bled.

Such a good looking, good feeling, drinkable alcohol leveled American IPA should be the bees knees, right?

Sockeye Red is ... Red. Heady. Clean crisp and filtered. The smell is overwhelming aromatic hops of a serious caliber that strengthens as it warms. Pine, resin, some malts, but mainly just hard and bashing IBUness. The bottle says only 70IBU's. I don't believe it. There's more.

Bitter in the front, middle, and drying in the back, I'm honestly overwhelmed. While impressed, I'm not pleased.

Pours a clear copper color with a 1 inch beige head that fades to a small cap. Good rings of lace on the drink down. Smells of pine hops and caramel malt. Tastes of pine tree hops with a caramel malt backbone. Medium hop bitterness on the palate after each sip. Not a whole lot going on in the smell or taste. Mouthfeel is crisp and clean due to a good carbonation level. Overall, a better than average IPA that I am glad to try. My bottle was produced in April 2010 so I can only assume this was better fresh.

Poured a deep, dark red/orange/brown with lots of head and lace that retained fairly well.

Smelled of tropical fruit, mostly pineapple and mango, along with some caramel sweetness and a twinge of brown sugar.

Taste followed suit, with initial caramel sweetness followed by a hoppy bitter middle and a tropical fruit ending. Malt is nicely dispersed after the initial kick, and balances the brew well.

Mouthfeel is talked about on label - "bite" is mentioned many times. I found Uberhoppy by Valley Brewing to have a much better "bite", but this one had a nice chomp in its own right. Sticky, sweet feel doesn't help drinkability, but certainly isn't a negative, as it fits with the tastes well.

A: Pours a dark amber color, nice frothy white head good lacing down the glass
S: Bready malt followed by floral hop scent
T: Much like the smell, bready malt followed by citrusy floral hoppiness
M: Medium bodied, finishes slightly dry
D: This is a great beer, would buy this again for sure.

Taste - Quite herbal, floral, almost medicinal. I get some citrus and pine at the tail end, and also a slight malty backbone, but overall, this seems (reminds me somewhat) of the Saison de Buff from DFH in the fact there is too much herb/floral going on here (spices, etc.). Not really feeling it.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied, decent carbonation.

Drinkability - Ehh, won't pick this up again. Just not really what I expected.